Roger Goodell says NFL will look at improving Rooney Rule, diversity hiring

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ORLANDO, Fla. – The NFL concluded that the Raiders did not violate the Rooney Rule when hiring head coach Jon Gruden. The Fritz Pollard Alliance, which promotes diversity hiring in the NFL, vehemently disagreed.

The Raiders interviewed minority candidates Tee Martin and Bobby Johnson for their head coaching vacancy, well after widespread knowledge owner Mark Davis was bringing Gruden back.

The Raiders obeyed the letter of the Rooney Rule, which demands at least one minority candidate be interviewed for head coach and GM jobs, but many believe they violated its spirit.

That prompted a question to NFL commissioner Roger Goodell about whether the Rooney Rule would be re-examined in the future.

“I think our efforts in this area we have to look at more broadly, because it’s not just about the Rooney Rule,” Goodell said Wednesday at the end of the NFL owners meetings. “Our efforts never were. I think it’s an important, fundamental element of that, but I think it’s more broad. How do we create the opportunities and do everything to train and give people experience to advance their careers? We have to do that with a tremendous focus on diversity, so we have people performing at the highest levels. That’s a core value of who we are and what we do. That will come in multiple forms.

“Will we look at the Rooney Rule to see if we can improve it? Absolutely. Are we going to look at training methods to give coaches and GMs and others in our operation better opportunities to expand their roles? That’s what we do very well. We’ll look at all of that.”

The Raiders have been leaders in diversity hiring for decades. They had the NFL’s first African-American head coach, the first Latino head coach and the first female CEO.

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